Tag: blog

Long time no nothing, what a let down I start to tell myself but then why share a load of nothing to take up space so I didn’t and I got over it.

Skip back to the week before Christmas 2017 and Swarms and Bee are off to their first trip to Tokyo, Japan. A dream holiday that began with hideous jet-lag and resentment but ended as one of the most influential trips of our lives. For now, next trip is already in the planning stages but let’s get back on track….

I recall the days when Barbie and Sindy were it, they were influential in my world of play. They were mountaineers, fashion models, explorers and so many other things. Then that awkward age hit and I still really loved my dolls but I didn’t want to look like a baby so they all….yes all went to a jumble sale or charity shop or some other such tragic place. I still miss that Peaches and Cream dress….woah skip back to Tokyo and one of many days in Akihabara, right towards the end of the holiday. In the corner of one of the many floors of one of the many shops I spotted three semi-nude dolls wrapped carefully in cellophane. I ummed and ahhed until Bee asked me what the hell was wrong with me and I should just buy all three if I liked them…I have no idea why I stalled when they were around £13 for all three! So I bought them and my return to dolls returned.

Cut to today and many fat finger moments later, trial and error and pin pricks and cursing, lots of cursing and I’m getting to grips with small scale sewing. Actually sewing in general. I even sewed my first inset sleeve, successfully. Check me out. (I won’t mention that the bodice of the same piece was way too small – measure twice cut once rings in my head – so I only did one sleeve before I binned the piece)

I need to get on with it don’t I? Vanish of the surface of blogdom for a while and then I can’t stop typing a load of semi-related stuff from my mind to the page.

I love the Mori Girl look so wanted to take that as an influence. I crocheted a cute little shawl, stitched a sweet forest green dress, made some awful little mules and made my own headband and decorated it. I’m so so happy with it. I am by no means an authority on this kind of thing so a more experienced person will see a million flaws in my work, but I’m really happy and it sets off her look in a way that makes me happy. So I feel this is worth a share and I hope it will make you smile.

I am missing this little home of blogginess but I am working really hard at the moment on some poems and I have entered my first competitions ever. Even if nothing ever comes of them, they have got me writing and listening and thinking more. And I’m discovering some amazing poets. 🙂

My pencil is squirrelling away like the Sorcerers Apprentice.

I do have – and I will make sure I get this up soon – a video and some pictures of a new woodcarving that Bee did a short time ago. I have been asking for this for three years but what is time when you get a result like we now have over the fireplace.

Next I would like to give a quick explanation as to why this little blog home has been void of additions lately, however please don’t think I’m doing this for any desire for a response or a cry for an emotional crutch or anything like that. I just want to give you the facts.

We’ve had two close family deaths in very quick succession which you can imagine (as I am confident you are all emotionally intelligent people) has been a shock followed by a lot of sadness and shock and so on. It is a process in itself to grieve for one person but when that becomes more than one, it is a strange coil and wave of emotions. I’ve tried to be a support to Bee where I can be.

Death and philosophy walk hand in hand, we must allow life and philosophy to do the same.

I am hoping to get more posts up here and videos again in the near future so see you soon.

I’ve been thinking a bit lately. I love this blog, I love sharing my work and Bee’s work. I enjoy having a little ramble too. I did notice lately that I was getting a bit caught up with the perceived need to post a lot on a constant basis. I find myself down the rabbit hole of reading other blogs which then leads to reading another blog and so on and so forth which means I’m not actually doing anything at all.Now don’t get me wrong, I love reading other blogs. The fact there’s a place for your mind to splurge a bit is wonderful. I smile and laugh and am moved by many posts.

I post my part of the blog because it makes me happy and I want to share. What I needed to remind myself is that the point is not to focus on a bulk of content, getting swept up with a dozen different things, checking statistics and all that goes with it. The point is for me to be happy with what I post, that it has meaning to me. It doesn’t always have to be in the good category it can be in the learning category. But I must remember that is has to have some level of meaning.

So I’ve got over myself slightly today after having a wobbly week in part from having a serious talk with myself and some really constructive comments from people here. Now some things to look forward to.

Number 1. I have a plan in place to make some more videos for YouTube which I have wanted to do for some time but although I organise so many things at work, typically when I get home it all goes woolly. I bought a selfie stick for my phone so I can construct a setup over my desk and I found out a clamp from the workshop to clamp it on the shelf. I use my phone as it has the best resolution and I’m not spending a fortune on a camera that I can’t justify. That is a little embarrassing now I’ve just typed those words….is that all I really needed to do? Jeepers!

moving quickly on…

Number 2. I have some new ink! It was a Chritsmas gift and I haven’t tried it out yet but I am going to try it out today. This is mainly thanks to Jeannette at mylittleworld.ca who has recently been posting about some gorgeous new paints she has, which I personally find very exciting. The texture, transparency, flow etc. etc. yum. Anyway stop drooling over paint and get back to ink.
Ok.
There’s a bloody brilliant shop in Shrewsbury called write here that is all things to pen and ink. The ink itself is iroshizuku (by Pilot) and the color is yama-guri which is supposed to reflect the wild chestnut and I suppose is a little similar to raw umber. I’ve just had a quick search and found this super page onfountainpens.com and it has a whole host of background and tests of the inks. I’ll be back there later to have a proper nose around.

If you’re expecting a super thoughtful conclusion to this post you’ll be sadly mistaken. My real life stories are rubbish as are my jokes, which I don’t tell as I have abysmal comedy timing. I’m a rambler and that’s the way I’ll stay. Anyway I have to go and test my ink.

We had so much fun this afternoon/evening at the wassailing event. We met up with some old friends and laughed and talked, drank hot chocolate and mulled apple juice. There was singing of the wassailing song, it was the Christian version which was a bit of a shame purely due to the fact that this dates before Christianity (the event taken over by the religion). The Morris Dancers were lovely and the ‘play’ was a lot of fun and finally we all meandered down to the orchard. Adults and children alike sang and beat the trees with small sticks, stuck bread on branches and poured apple juice and cider on to the roots. We rattled tambourines and beat the bodhrán. We held our lanterns high to wake the trees and scare any evil spirits at the same time. We called out for a good harvest.

It was an earthy, unpretentious event with good friends and I loved every minute of it.

Tomorrow we’re going wassailing. I’m very excited, it is something I’ve wanted to do for ages to brighten up this otherwise grey and miserable time of year.

For anyone who doesn’t know wassailing is most likely Anglo-Saxon in origin and you’ll find it happening in fruit growing areas around early to mid-January, depending on what calendar you are following. The point is to make sure the coming year’s harvest is a good and fruitful one. The wassail queen places cider soaked bread on to branches of a chosen tree and everyone sings, cider is also poured on the roots. Then everyone goes round all the trees banging and shouting to wake the trees up and chase off any evil spirits that lurk and would otherwise do harm to the trees. Exciting eh!?

Well with this coming up and me having a right old ponder this morning about getting some YouTube videos sorted out and I thought about doing a haiku a day. As the day goes on my brain ticks and whirrs…I shouldn’t pay it any attention half the time. Anyway I ended up with what will come in a moment. I feel like I’m jabbering and would normally like to keep my posts a bit shorter than this. It’s no a proper haiku, the only elements are the syllables and it is seriously lacking in sabi and wabi. I’ve kind of merged it with an old English folk song style due to the subject matter…I’ll shut up now, meditate on succinctness and you can actually read it.

Haiku: Wassail

Shout and bang and sing
with the wassail queen and king.
Ripe hopes, this year bring.